The Kung Fu Panda could be helping to vanquish the curse of China's lacklustre film industry after the country's senior advisors on Friday called for less government control on creativity.
The box office blockbuster was the center of discussions for a panel meeting of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Committee (CPPCC) when the head of the China National Peking Opera Company asked, "Why can't we make a cartoon as popular as Kung Fu Panda?"
After a lengthy philosophical discussion, the members of the Second Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 11th National Committee of the CPPCC decided, like the Kung Fu Panda himself, that "there is no secret ingredient".
US actor Jack Black (L) and German actor Hape Kerkeling pose as they arrive for the screening of the animated film Kung Fu Panda in Berlin June 23, 2008. The movie opens in German cinemas on July 3.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
They agreed on a recommendation to the government that it should relax its control in order to accelerate the reform and opening up of the cultural market and to enhance China's cultural influence in the world.
Created by the bankable directing team of John Stevenson and Mark Osborne, Kung Fu Panda has been a box office hit since it premiered on June 19 in Beijing and was released nationwide the following day. It also opened in quake-hit Sichuan Province, home of the panda, the same weekend.
By Sunday, its box office had exceeded 96.88 million yuan (US$13.84 million) in the Chinese mainland.
Kicking off the discussion, China National Peking Opera Company president Wu Jiang said, "The film's protagonist is China's national treasure and all the elements are Chinese, but why didn't we make such a film?"
